Short story: John visits his doctor, and felt his doctor's anguished feeling of being trapped in his job

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John went to his local doctor yesterday, and he was surprised that his usual doctor, Doctor Mal Lomback, was still there. At his last visit, a few months back, the doctor had told John that he would be retiring at the end of the month, and yet here he was, still here. John asked him about it, and the Doctor said that the practice had asked him to stay on, at least for 3 days a week, as they were incredibly short-staffed right now. He told John that he was already 70, and he had wanted to give it all away, as he was pretty burnt out, after 46 years as a doctor. And, he added that he would have liked to have travelled a bit, as he has not done anything much for himself in all of that long time. Then, he looked at John fairly pensively, and said, with sad looking eyes: "I will be happy with my life, in some ways, if I make it to 75, as I have given my life over to the community, and yet, I do have some regrets too." "This is all I have ever known though, and perhaps I should ease into retirement, rather than just making the move right-away, where I might feel pretty empty in my everyday life then." John was already retired himself, and he knew from experience that life without a usual routine could be rather hard to live, and yet he felt sorry for his doctor too. The doctor was a dedicated man, and always gave of his best to his profession, despite the practice often double-booking him for appointments, thinking that he would just squeeze the extra people in, somehow. The doctor had put up with this, but the stress of then always running late in seeing his patients had long tried his patience too. The doctor kept working for several more years then, but one day, he was not feeling too well at work, and he had a massive heart attack, and died. He had cared too much for his patients, and had not taken much time to look after his own health, full of stress, and turmoil. He was 73, at the time. He didn't even reach his own predicted age of 75. It was a life dedicated to service, but it is true that sadness lives in most gardens, as we seldom see the work that has gone into it, but so often just take it, the end result, for granted. Photo Credit: The photo used in this article was sourced from the free media site, pixabay.com Doctor Lomback died on the job, that he both loved, and also almost hated, in the end too.